Senior IAS officer of the Karnataka cadre Pradeep Singh Kharola has been appointed as the new Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of disinvestment- bound national carrier Air India, the government announced. He will succeed another senior IAS officer Rajiv Bansal — additional secretary and financial advisor in the ministry of petroleum and natural gas — who was given additional charge of the post of CMD of Air India in August this year. Kharola will be leading the national airline at a time when the government has started the process for its strategic disinvestment.